Related topics: biofuel , gasoline , ethanol production
Ethanol
hideEthanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug, best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages and in modern thermometers. Ethanol is one of the oldest recreational drugs. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as alcohol or spirits.
Ethanol is a straight-chain alcohol, and its molecular formula is C2H5OH. Its empirical formula is C2H6O. An alternative notation is CH3-CH2-OH, which indicates that the carbon of a methyl group (CH3-) is attached to the carbon of a methylene group (-CH2-), which is attached to the oxygen of a hydroxyl group (-OH). It is a constitutional isomer of dimethyl ether. Ethanol is often abbreviated as EtOH, using the common organic chemistry notation of representing the ethyl group (C2H5) with Et.
The fermentation of sugar into ethanol is one of the earliest organic reactions employed by humanity. The intoxicating effects of ethanol consumption have been known since ancient times. In modern times, ethanol intended for industrial use is also produced from by-products of petroleum refining.
Ethanol has widespread use as a solvent of substances intended for human contact or consumption, including scents, flavorings, colorings, and medicines. In chemistry, it is both an essential solvent and a feedstock for the synthesis of other products. It has a long history as a fuel for heat and light and also as a fuel for internal combustion engines.
For more information about Ethanol, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with ethanol
Mescal worm test shows DNA leaks into preservative liquids
13 hours ago |
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Just because you don't swallow the worm at the bottom of a bottle of mescal doesn't mean you have avoided the essential worminess of the potent Mexican liquor, according to scientists from the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario ...
Sorghum feeds Africa, proves important for U.S. as well
Feb 02, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Sorghum, a main food crop in many African nations and the second most important animal feed crop in the United States, has the potential for expanded food and fuel uses both here and abroad, said a Purdue ...
Fermenting fodder into fuel
Jan 28, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As climate change challenges continue to crop up around fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, identifying renewable fuel materials and developing processes that ...
The 'Nose' Knows
Jan 12, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Some might say it's as plain as the nose on your face. But detecting toxic or dangerous chemicals in the microgravity environment of space takes a little extra "sniffing." That’s why ENose, ...
Biodiesel industry on hold after tax credit runs out
Jan 11, 2010 |
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The biodiesel industry is revving up efforts to reinstate the U.S. biodiesel tax credit, warning that as many as 23,000 jobs could be at risk if lawmakers don't revive the program that expired at the beginning of 2010.
Study: US biofuels policies flawed
Jan 06, 2010 |
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The United States needs to fundamentally rethink its policy of promoting ethanol to diversify its energy sources and increase energy security, according to a new policy paper by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public ...
Can Snowmobiles Adapt in the Age of Ethanol?
Dec 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- By 2022, federal regulations will require a 400 percent increase in the amount of renewable fuel in America’s gasoline, from 9 billion to 36 billion gallons.
Caffeine doesn't reverse the negative cognitive impact of alcohol, study shows
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 07, 2009 |
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People who drink may want to know that coffee won't sober them up, according to new laboratory research. Instead, a cup of coffee may make it harder for people to realize they're drunk.
EPA postpones decision on 15 percent blend for ethanol
Dec 02, 2009 |
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The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that it will make a formal decision next year on whether to allow a 15 percent blend of ethanol in domestic gasoline, after initial tests showed that cars can run on the fuel.
NREL Breaks Down Walls for Biofuels
Nov 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and ethanol producers are racing to come up with ways to make ethanol from cellulosic biomass that are cheaper and easier to ...
Sustainable Corn Production Supports Advanced Biofuel Feedstocks
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers worldwide are trying to economically convert cellulosic biomass such as corn stover into "cellulosic ethanol." But Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have found that ...
Dutch researchers make breakthrough in bioethanol production from agricultural waste
Nov 20, 2009 |
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With the introduction of a single bacterial gene into yeast, researchers from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands achieved three improvements in bioethanol production from agricultural waste material: 'More ...
Microbes to Take Over Ethanol Production?
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Not too long ago, it seemed that ethanol production was the wave of the future. The use of trash, wood chips or different types of plants -- usually grass or corn -- to make ethanol was considered ...
Wet ethanol production process yields more ethanol and more co-products
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Using a wet ethanol production method that begins by soaking corn kernels rather than grinding them, results in more gallons of ethanol and more usable co-products, giving ethanol producers a bigger bang for their buck - ...
Genomes of biofuel yeasts reveal clues that could boost fuel ethanol production
Nov 05, 2009 |
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As global temperatures and energy costs continue to soar, renewable sources of energy will be key to a sustainable future. An attractive replacement for gasoline is biofuel, and in two studies published online in Genome Re ...
